Mental to mental causation is not possible if mental events are related
  • MoK
    1.8k
    In this thread, I argue that mental to mental causation is not possible if mental events are related*, even if we accept that one mental event, let's call it A, can cause another mental event, let's call it B. We first have to notice that each mental event has a certain content. Moreover, the information about what B should be in the future is extra content, and it is necessary at the moment when A causes B, since A and B are related. This information, however, alters the content of A, which is not acceptable since A wouldn't be A anymore. Therefore, the title holds.

    * By related, I mean that given one mental event, one expects the next mental event to be specific one.
    MoK Options
  • Leontiskos
    5.1k
    There is no noun "mental" in the English language. This poses a problem for an OP that takes such a word for granted. Much confusion will come from making up a word wholecloth and pretending that it has some determinate meaning.
    Leontiskos Options
  • MoK
    1.8k
    ↪Leontiskos

    Oh, thanks for letting me know. I changed the OP slightly to consider your correction.
    MoK Options
  • Leontiskos
    5.1k
    ↪MoK
    - :up:

    Do you think we can take your same argument and use it to show that physical to physical causation is not possible if physical events are related?
    Leontiskos Options
  • MoK
    1.8k
    Do you think we can take your same argument and use it to show that physical to physical causation is not possible if physical events are related? — Leontiskos
    That is a very good question! I have a thread on "Physical cannot be the cause of its own change" that you can find here. I, however, think that the same type of argument that is presented here applies to physical events as well. This means that horizontal causation is not possible if the events, whether physical or mental, are related. Therefore, we are left with vertical causation, which requires at least two substances, namely the Mind and matter.
    MoK Options
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